Newsletters
Two major brands in China cut ties with Kylian Mbappe on Tuesday after an online video appeared to show the French football star joking about Mao Zedong, the country’s former leader.
Jokes about Mao, the founding leader of the People’s Republic of China who died in 1976, are seen as disrespectful and remain a social taboo.
“Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behavior that offends national sentiments,” drinks giant Dongpeng said in a statement, adding that “with immediate effect we are terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe.”
Mengniu, China’s largest dairy producer, also cut ties with the Real Madrid forward, who was hugely popular among Chinese fans until this incident, with millions of followers on social media.
“With immediate effect, our company is terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe,” Mengniu said in a statement.
The announcement came after a video surfaced online of Mbappe saying the funniest internet meme he had seen was his face photoshopped onto that of “some guy, I think he’s a Chinese dictator.”
This was an apparent reference to a meme of Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao, one of several using the footballer’s face and other historical figures.
“Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe” was the top-trending topic on Chinese social media site Weibo.
Mbappe in September addressed a previous meme depicting him as a military dictator, in an interview with French sports newspaper L’Equipe.
“There’s a part of it that’s funny. You can tell that, for some people, it’s all in good fun. But there is another part that’s a bit less funny because of the damage such people have caused throughout history,” he said.
The furor in China came a day after Mbappe lost out to Harry Kane for the Ballon d’Or, the most prestigious individual award in football.
Global sports stars that have commented on sensitive topics such as Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong have previously caused controversy in China and been dumped by sponsors there.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
